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The Screaming O, UCLA Co-host Valentine’s Day Event

Lila GrayFeb 13, 2014 11:30 AM PST

LOS ANGELES — The Screaming O and the UCLA Art & Global Health Center have teamed up to co-host “We’re Glad You Came,” a live stage show that offers men, women and couples a fun and interactive way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

This marks the first event planned following the recent announcement of The Screaming O’s partnership with UCLA and AMP!, its performance-based sex education program.

“Spreading a sex-positive, safe-sex message is our number one goal, and it’s an honor to join UCLA and its Sex Squad to support such an innovative approach to sex education,” Screaming O President Justin Ross said. “The 'We’re Glad You Came' event is a unique way to spend Valentines’ Day and is a fun alternative to the traditional routine. The Sex Squad’s work educates and inspires young adults to think and talk about sex in ways their parents probably never did, and The Screaming O is proud to be a part of that.”

“The goal of the Valentine’s Day show is to show how much fun open conversation about sexual health can be,” UCLA Sex Squad Director Robert Gordon said. “If we laugh at fear and taboo, we can not only take better care of our bodies, but feel better in them as well. We can be happier, healthier advocates for ourselves and each other, and the Valentine’s Day event is about embodying all of these ideas in a fun celebration.”

The “We’re Glad You Came” event is scheduled for Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 in the Glorya Kaufman Hall on the UCLA campus. Audience members will have the opportunity to take home free swag courtesy of The Screaming O.

Established in 2009, the AMP! program uses a combination of humor and entertainment by drawing on the talents of its Sex Squad, an undergraduate performance group dedicated to “shining a brighter light” on sexual health and safe sex topics, including condom use, STI and AIDS prevention, and the benefits of masturbation.

As a Safe Sex Instigator, The Screaming O helps enable the UCLA Art & Global Health Center to bring its program to Los Angeles Unified District high schools and reach an additional 60,000 students via a virtual model.

Supplementing existing health programs, the Sex Squad travels to schools across the county — with sister squads in Chapel Hill, Atlanta and Mexico City — and performs engaging and informative sex-ed skits. The Sex Squad says it covers topics ranging from first-time sex to body image and arouses much-needed dialogues about issues and concerns that they believe typically remain unspoken, or cloaked in stigma.

“The Screaming O’s support helps the Sex Squad grow its programs and increase its reach, changing the lives of college students and high school students by creating space for them to take control of their own sexual health,” said Elisabeth Nils, director of development at the Art & Global Health Center.